December 23, 2016 Coats Museum NewsIt was winter of 1961 and the cold hand of death had taken Mrs. Viola Stephenson, 56, on a Saturday. She was survived by her husband, George W. Stephenson; one daughter, Mrs. Charles Ennis and two sons-Hoyt and Cecil Stephenson. Her father was Junnie Stevens and four sisters-one of them being Mrs. Fred Stewart of Coats survived her. Two younger Coats girls-Judith Byrd and Ethel Poole- were patients in Good Hope Hospital.Do you wonder why a young person would be in the hospital? This I do know. Ethel Poole was there because she and her husband Robert W. Poole were parents of a new son on February 26. Ethel was the former Ethel Jernigan (Daily Record Feb. 27, 1961).Jerry Weaver, son of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Weaver, and Lacy F. Langdon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Merchant Langdon, graduated from recruit training on February 3 at the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. Back home, the Coats Boys Basketball team was in the finals of the Harnett County tournament. Coats boys charged into the finals with a 47-38 win over Lafayette. Edward Turlington had 6; Jimmy Wade shot 17; Jerry Lee hit 6 and Charles Langdon dropped 13.Younger players-Sammy Pope had 2 and Bobby Fish made 3 (Daily Record Feb. 28, 1961) Big question—where is Kenneth Ennis?The tournament continued and Boone Trail defeated Coats with the score being 36-34. The paper recorded that the Coats squad went after the title like a “beaver sawing through a tree-trunk”. They fought hard for the title (Daily Record Feb. 28, 1961).Mr. A.J. “Agie” Godwin was a patient in Good Hope Hospital. Do you remember him? Did he not spend much of his adult life as a protector of the town and its people? I know for sure that Jimmy Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Johnson of Coats, was a member of the spring pledge class of Alpha Tau Chapter of Alpha Kappa Phi Professional Fraternity in business administration. Jimmy was a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill. His cousin, Gayle Johnson, was named to the Dean’s List at Campbell.Herbert Johnson and J.D. Norris, the “two live wire Coats real estate and auction men” were still smiling over the successful sale of the Authur Pope Estate in Dunn recently according to the Daily Record March 3, 1961 edition of that paper which also stated that those two boys really know how to sell for the top dollar.Rep. Carson Gregory, the dairyman-farmer took issue with those who were campaigning for a 10-month school year. “We farm people need our children those three months of the year”, said Gregory. Elsewhere in the Coats area, Mrs. Betty Miller Wilkins was a patient in Good Hope and Larry Edward Denning was among those who made the honor roll at UNC Chapel Hill for the fall term. Disappointment must have been the mood as the students at Coats saw their boys basketball team upended by Central by a margin of 65-54 in the Class A preliminary play to earn a spot in the district playoffs (Daily Record Mar. 6, 1961).R.M. Turlington, chairman of the Activities Committee of the Harnett District Boy Scouts, announced the explorer basketball tournament was set for Lillington. The defending champions were Coats Post 779. Also exciting news was that Mrs. Sherrill Moore had won a dinette set at the Grand Opening of the Purdie’s Furniture in Dunn (Daily Record Mar. 6, 1961).Mrs. Wiley Grice was at Good Hope Hospital where Mr. and Mrs. Garner Rose Ennis announced the birth and death of a son. Mrs. W.E. Nichols and Mrs. Haywood Roberts assisted Mrs. Eugene Lasater, Sr. as social chairman of the Harnett County Confederate Centennial program (Daily Record Mar. 7, 1961).Hospital stays were a major part of the news as it was recorded that Mrs. Margie Capps Whittington and Mrs. Exie Regan were in Good Hope and were joined by Cathy Roberts the next day (Daily Record Mar. 9, 1961). Over in Betsy Johnson, Mrs. Betty Jean Parrish was a patient. Happier news was that Billy Worth Lanier and Evelyn Doris Williford had passed their N.C. Board of Pharmacy examinations (Daily Record Mar. 10, 1961).Harnett Rep. Carson Gregory said that he was strongly opposed to a proposed sales tax on food. Lector Langdon of Route 2, Angier was among the 9 first-place winners to guess the number of flower bulbs in a large jar at the southeastern Flower and Garden Show. Guess her prize. All nine winners received 100 bulbs. Mrs. Minnie Lee Allen had died on Thursday. Who were her children? I do know that Mrs. Lilly Taylor was a patient in Good Hope (Daily Record Mar. 13, 1961). Mrs. Ida McGill and Mrs. Otis J. Capps were also patients. Doris was the former Doris Faircloth and was the new mother of a daughter on Mar.14th. Mrs. Geneva Ennis was a patient in Betsy Johnson. Some good news was that the Boy Scout Cage Tournament champion was Coats Explorer Post 779. This was their fourth time winning the title. They had finished strong on Saturday night squelching Anderson Creek 63-44. District Scout Executive Dick Walton said that Coats had won the annual Explorer tournament each year since it began. Does that mean that the tournament was in its fourth year?I do know that Rev. R.L. Sanders had recently delivered the installation sermon at McCoy’s Chapel Freewill Baptist Church near Coats. Is this on the Old Stage Road (Daily Record Mar. 14, 1961)?Mrs. Gertie Stone and Mr. Lee Parrish were patients at Good Hope. Elsewhere in Dunn, Mrs. Nathan Johnson and her committee had met and had laid out the four year centennial agenda on the Confederate Centennial (Daily Record Mar. 15, 1961).Governor Terry Sanford had plans to speak at the Coats FFA Father Son Banquet. Miss LaRue Stanley, Mrs. Thelma Byrd, and Mrs. Doris Surles were patients at Good Hope. Revival services were going on at the Community Chapel Church of God near Bailey’s Crossroads. Rev. M.L. Berry, pastor of Smithfield Church of God, was the evangelist (Daily Record Mar. 21, 1961).A consolidation of the Dunn and Coats Wellons stores made a bigger and better Wellons, Inc. Both stores were profitable. Fred R. Weaver belonged to the Sales Force. He was a graduate of Coats High School and began work at Wellons in 1958. Did he go to work in the store in Dunn after the Wellons closed in Coats (Daily Record Mar. 21. 1961)?Mrs. Edwin Stewart (Frances Wood) entered the Cape Fear Valley Hospital in Fayetteville. Mrs. Lucy Long was a patient in Betsy Johnson. April Court jurors were drawn from Grove and the following were summoned: Curtis R. Reardon, H.T. Roberts, Donnie D. Pollard, Jesse H. Parrish, Carl H. Parker, Lexie Langdon, and O’Max Langdon (Daily Record Mar. 23, 1961).Richard Daniel and Edward Turlington had won the two top awards at the Coats FFA chapter annual banquet. Richard’s award went for supervised farming. Others who took honors were Thomas Stephenson-Star Chapter Farmer Award; Earl Denning and C.L. Upchurch tied for the Farm Mechanics Award. Gerald Hayes, Jr. won for public speaking and for soil and water management while Joe Gregory won for dairy work. Carl Whittington who had attended every FFA Banquet since 1937 with five sons passing through the program was the recipient of the honorary degree as were L.E. McKnight and Carl Turlington, father of the chapter president Edward Turlington. Edward would be able to go to Kansas City if he won at the state contest for the best all around student making a contribution to FFA (DailyRecord Mar. 24, 1961).The hospitals were treating many residents of the Coats area. Ennis Weaver was in Good Hope according to the March 24th Daily Record and the 27th edition wrote that Mrs. Annie Ennis was a patient. Then Mrs. Leon Smith (Truea Lee) gave birth to a son at the same hospital. Over in Betsy Johnson Hospital one would find Billy Ray West and Lloyd Wagner (Daily Record Mar. 30, 1961).The museum will be closed on Christmas Day and on New Year’s Day but will be opened on the Thursdays and by appointments. The Coats Museum Board of Directors and the volunteers extend a sincere “thank you” for all who have helped make a successful 2016 at the Coats Museum and to all our readers, we wish for you a very Merry Christmas with family and friends. May hope, peace, joy and love be with you in 2017.